Fastener means for receptacles and other uses



A. LEVINE Jan. 14, `195s FASTENER MEANS FOR RECEPTACLES AND OTHER USES Filed Dec. '7. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill/IllIlllllllllllllllllllll/lllllllllllllllll United States atent 2W 2,819,603 Patented Jan. 14, 1958 hice FASTENER MEANS FR RECEPEACLES AND THER USES Abraham Levine, Mendham, N. J., assigner of one-half to Baltimore Luggage Company, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland and one-half to Presto Loch @omn pany, Garfield, N. J., a limited partnership Application December 7, 1955, Serial No. 551,563

Claims. (Cl. 70-74l This invention relates to improved fastener means for `releasably securing the cover member of a receptacle in closed relation to the body thereof, or for similar fastening service; said improved fastener means being of the type comprising a hasp member adapted e. g. to be pivotally or hingedly mounted on a receptacle cover member for releasable latched engagement with a latching structure adapted to be aihxed to the receptacle body.

. The invention has for an object to provide an improved construction of fastener means of the above mentioned type which can be optionally applied to a receptacle and closure therefor, or to other closure equipped structures, as a single unit, or two of which, as a pair, can be applied in spaced apart relation, as e. g. is desirable in use thereof upon a suitcase or like type of luggage or other container.

When the fastener devices are so applied as a pair, it

would be of advantage that the respective latching structures could be actuated for release of the associated hasp members by the respective hands of the operator, and, to such end, that the manipulatable latch releasing elements of the respective latching structures be optionally movable in opposite directions by said operators hands. To attain such convenience, it is desirable that the manipulatable latch releasing element of the latching structure of each fastener means or unit be optionally actuatable by movement thereof either from right to left or from left to right, whereby one thereof can be actuated by movement in one direction by one hand of the operator, and the other thereof can be simultaneously actuated by movement in the opposite direction by the other hand of the operator. Having this in view, it is a further object of this invention to provide a fastener means unit, the manipulatable latch releasing element of the latching structure of which is selectively movable either in one or the opposite direction to, in either case, disengage a latch from latching engagement with the associated hasp member, whereby to release the latter.

The invention has for another object to provide an improved construction of fastener device of the above stated type, the latching structure of which is provided with a manipulatable latch releasing element as above charac- 'i terized, said latching structure, in addition to its latchin g .cooperation with the pivoted hasp member, including key actuatable bolt means that is operative to lock said manipulatable latch releasing element against unauthorized actuation.

The vabove and other objects will become apparent from the following detailed description of this invention when read in connection with the accompanying drawings showing an illustrative embodiment of the improved fastener device according to this invention; in which drawings:

Fig, l is a front elevational view of a fastener device according to this invention, showing the hasp member thereof in its closed latched relation to the latching structure; and Fig. 2 is a side edge elevational view of the same, the released or open position of the hasp member being shown by broken lines.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional View, taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 2, with the latch `means shown in latching engagement with the closed hasp member, said view being drawn on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4 is a vertical 1ongitudinal sectional view, taken on line 4--4 in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view, taken on line 5 5 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view, similar to that o-f Fig. 3, but showing the released position of the latch member of the latching structure as effected by manual movement of a latch releasing element from right to left; and Fig. 7 is a like View, but showing the released position of the latch member as effected by manual movement of the latch releasing element from left to right.

Referring to the drawings, in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts, the reference character lil indicates the latching structure of the fastener device which is e. g. adapted to be affixed 'to the front of a receptacle body lll, and l2 indicates the hasp structure of the fastener device which is adapted to be mounted on the front of the receptacle cover member i3 for cooperation with said latching structure.

The latching structure lli comprises a rearwardly open housing shell 14 having an outwardly projecting hollow portion or enlargement l5, which extends transversely across its lower end portion from side to side thereof. The opposite side Walls of the housing shell and its hollow enlargement are each pierced by an opening le. Slidably supported by said openings 16, to extend transversely through the lower portion of the housing shell and its hollow enlargement, is a manipulatable longitudinally movable latch releasing element 17 of generally rectangular shape. This latch releasing element is of a length substantially exceeding the width of the housing shell and its hollow enlargement, whereby the left hand end l5 of said element normally projects exteriorly from the left hand side of the housing shell, and the right hand end l@ of said element normally projects exteriorly from the right hand side of the housing shell.

Nested within the interior of the housing shell ld, behind the latch releasing element 17, is a forwardly open hollow frame plate 2i), This frameyplate Ztl is suitably held in assembled relation to the housing shell le, as by retainer tongues 21 which are bent inwardly, e. g. from top and bottom end walls of said housing shell, to engage over the back of said frame plate (see Fig. 4).

Above the hollow enlargement l5', the front wall of the housing shell lidis pierced by an opening Z2, which is preferably centered between the sides of the housing shell, and which provides an entrance way for the perforate catch piece of a hasp member of the hasp structure l2, subsequently herein to be more particularly described. The frame plate 2li is provided with a like opening 22' for hasp member catch piece clearance.

Disposed intermediate the frame plate 2@ and the latch releasing element 17, to normally extend perpendicularly within the housing shell interior, and in laterally offset relation to said entrance-.ray opening 22 in the housing shell front wall, is a latch member comprising, in unitary relationship, an upper leg 23 and a lower leg 24, with a fulcrum notch 2S which indents the inner margin of the latch member intermediate said legs. Projecting laterally from the inner margin of the upper leg 23 of the latch member is a chamfered latch tongue 26, which is adapted to engage the perforate catch piece of the hasp member of the hasp structure in holding relation thereto, as later herein described. The lower leg 24- of the latch member is formed with an outwardly'otfset knee section 27. Said knee section provides a downwardlydirected shoulder at its outer side, and an upwardly directed shoulder 29 at its inner side.

Struck out from the frame plate Ztl, is an inwardly projecting fulcrum lug 30, which is positioned above but adjacent to the top side of the latch releasing element l?, and which is adapted to be received in the fulcrurn notch of the latch member, in the normal position of said latch member.

The back face of the latch releasing element 13.7 is suitably cut away to provide receiving space 3l therethrough (see Fig. 4), through which the lower leg 24 of the latch member extends across, and so as to be operatively engaged by said latch releasing element. Intermediate its ends, and to the left of the latch member, the latch releasing element il? is formed to provide a perpendicular body section 32 unitary therewith, and disposed to extend upwardly from the bottom longitudinal side of said latch releasing element to terminate in an upper end portion 33 which projects freely beyond the top longitudinal side of the latch releasing element. Unitary with said upper end portion 33 of the body scction 32 is a push finger 34, which projects from the inner side thereof, in plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the latch releasing element, toward and so as to engage the inner margin of the upper leg 23 of the latch member, at a point spaced above the fulcrurn notch 25 of said latch member, Intermediate the top and bottom longitudinal sides of the latch releasing element, the body section 32 is formed with a laterally oifset portion 35, which is directed toward and so as to engage the lower leg 2d of the latch member at the back of the knee section 27 above the upwardly directed shoulder 29 thereof. Formed in connection with the bottom longitudinal side of the latch releasing element, on the right of the latch member receiving space 3l, is a push knuckle 36, which engages the outer margin of the lower leg 2` of the latch member beneath the downwardly directed shoulder'ZS of the knee section 27.

A suitably shaped spring member 37 is mounted between a side wall of the hollow frame plate 2t) and the outer margin of the upper leg 23 of the latch member, and serves to yieldably urge the latch member to its normal hasp member engaging position.

The latching structure lil can be atlixed to the receptacle body ll by any suitable means of attachment. As shown, by way of example, suitably disposed fastener rivets 3S are engaged through the housing shell Ml and `trame plate 29, to pass thence through and in secured relation to the wall of the receptacle body 11.

The hasp structure l2 comprises a hollow body shell 39 which is adapted to be suitably aixed to the receptacle cover member 13, as e. g. by fastener rivets llt), above and in alignment with the latching structure l@ mounted on the receptacle body 11i. Suitably formed in connection with the top end of the hollow body shell 39 are spaced apart hinge knuckles 4l. Hingedly connected with the hollow body shell 39 is a hasp member or plate 42, the latter being provided with a suitably formed hinge knuckle 43 adapted to be aligned with and between the hinge knuckles 41 of the former, so as to be pivotally connected therewith by a hinge pin 44 arranged to extend axially therethrough. It is preferable that the hasp member or plate 42 be yieldably urged to an upswung released relation to the latching structure 10,

such position being shown by broken lines in Fig. 2. To provide for such action, an end portion 45 of the hinge pin dd is reduced in diameter, and around such reduced end portion is mounted a helical spring member 46, one terminal arm 47 of which is stopped against the adhinge knuckle 4l of the hollow body shell 39, and the other terminal arm lli of which tensionally bears against the back face of the hasp member or plate 42, so as to exert upswinging thrust against the same. Unitary with and projecting rearwardly from the back face o the hasp member or plate 42, perpendicular to the plane thereof and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hasp structure, is a perforate catch piece 49. When the hasp member or plate is down swung to lap the structure itl, the catch piece 49 will be caused to inwardly through the entrance opening 22 in the body shell i4 of the latching structure, and thereupon to snap over the chamfered latch tongue 26 of the latch member, whereby said latch tongue, under the spring urged movement of the latch member, will enter and engage through the perforate catch piece, thereby holding the hasp structure l2 in latched engagement with the latching structure 10.

To operate the fastener device for release of the hasp structure l2 from latched engagement with the latching structure lil, the latch member of the latter can be moved to disengage its latch tongue 26 from the perforate catch piece 49 of the hasp member plate 42, either by manually moving the latch releasing element 17 longitudinally from left to right or from right to left, at the option of the operator.

The latch member releasing eifect as attained by manually moving the latch releasing element 17 from left to right in shown in Fig. 6. Upon left to right movement of the latch releasing element, the push finger 34 thereof thrusts against the inner margin of the upper leg 23 of the latch member, while at the same time the offset portion 35 of the body section 32 thrusts against the inner` margin of the lower leg 24 of the latch member, within the back of the knee section 27 of the latter. As a result of these thrusts, the latch member is shifted bodily to the right against the tension of the spring 37, thus withdrawing the latch tongue 26 from the perforate catch piece 49 of the hasp member or plate 42. The hasp member or plate 42, being thus freed, will be actuated by the spring member 46 to swing upwardly to its released position (shown by broken lines in Fig. 2). By such bodily shift of the latch member, its fulcrum notch 25 is temporarily withdrawn from the fulcrum lug 30, but resumes engagement therewith when the latch member and latch releasing element are returned to normal initial positions by the spring 37 upon removal of manual pressure from said latch releasing element. The normal initial positions of the latch member and latch releasing F" element may be suitably predetermined, as e. g. by a stop lug 5h struck up out of the frame plate 20, against which the upper arm 23 of the spring pressed latch member is arrested.

The latch member releasing effect as attained by manually moving the latch releasing element 17 from right to left is shown in Fig. 7. Upon right to left movement of the latch releasing element, the push knuckle 36 thrusts inwardly against the outer margin of the lower leg 24 of the latch member, thereby rotating said latch member clockwise about the fulcrum lug 30, and thus swinging outwardly the upper leg 23 of the latch member against the tension of the spring 37, whereby to withdraw the latch tongue 26 from the perforate catch piece 49 of the hasp member or plate 42. The hasp member or plate d2 being thus freed, will swing upward to released position under the influence of its spring member 46.

In most cases it is desirable to provide the fastener device with key actuatable locking means operative to lock the latch releasing element against unauthorized manipulation, when the fastener device is in its closed `latcherl condition. 1For such purpose, a bifurcate lock bolt means isslidably supported in a perpendicular guide channel 5l provided in the outer face of the body section 32 of the latch releasing element 17. Said bolt means comprises a bolt arm 52 and a spring arm 53. The operative lower end 54 of the bolt arm is opposed to an aperture or lock socket `55 provided in a bottom end wall portion 56 of the frame plate 20, which wall portion underlies the bottom longitudinal edge of the latch releasing element.

Formed in the olfset portion 35 of the body section 32 of the latch releasing element is an outwardly open key reception socket 57, which is laterally open toward the side of the guide channel 51 with which the spring arm 53 of the bolt means is engaged. Said spring arm 53 is provided, intermediate it ends, with a key engageable projection or shoulder 58 to receive turning thrust of an actuating key in direction to downwardly move the lock bolt means, whereby to enter the operative end 54 of the bolt arm into locking engagement with the lock socket or aperture 55, and with another key engageable projection or shoulder 59 to receive turning thrust of the actuating key in direction to upwardly retract the lock bolt means from said locking position to released position. Said projections or shoulders 58 and 59 project into the key reception socket 57, so as to lie in the path of rotation of an actuating key entered in the latter. Bordering the guide channel 51, below the key reception socket 57, is a stop nosing 60, and the margin of the spring arm S3 of the lock bolt means opposed thereto is provided with indenting positioning notches 61 and 62, which cooperate with said stop nosing 60 to respectively determine the retracted and projected positions of the lock bolt means.

The hollow enlargement 15 of the housing shell 14, which overlies the outer face of the latch releasing element 17, is provided with an externally projecting hollow boss 63, with which the key reception socket 57 of the latch releasing element is axially aligned, when said latch releasing element occupies its normal initial or non-actuated position. Supported by said hollow boss 63 is a suitably slotted, rotatable key barrel 64, through which a key, for actuating the lock bolt means, can be passed for entrance into the key reception socket 57, so as to be operatively disposed between the projections or shoulders 58 and 59 of the lock bolt means, whereby the thrust of the turned key can be applied to one or the other of the latter, as may be required for desired lock bolt means operation.

Although provision of the locking bolt means will be found desirable in most cases, said locking bolt means may be omitted in an embodiment of this invention desired to provide merely latching effect.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A device for releaseably fastening together separable parts of a receptacle or the like comprising a latching structure adapted to be mounted on one of said separable parts and a hasp structure including a pivoted hasp member adapted to be mounted on the other of said separable parts for releaseable engagement with the latching structure, said latching structure comprising a housing, a frame plate supported within said housing, a latch member disposed between the housing and the frame plate, said latch member having an upper leg and a lower leg, said upper leg having a hasp member engaging latch tongue, said frame plate carrying a fulcrum lug, the latch member having a fulcrum notch intermediate its upper and lower legs to engage said fulcrum lug, whereby at times to support said latch member for pivotal movement about said fulcrum lug, spring means to yieldably urge the latch member to latching position, a manipulatable transversely disposed latch member releasing element slidably supported by the housing, and selectively movable in one or an opposite direction, said element having respective means to engage both the upper and lower legs of the latch member, whereby to bodily shift said latch member for withdrawal of its latch tongue from holding engagement with said hasp member. when said element is manually moved in one direction, and said element having another means to engage the lower leg of the latch member, whereby to rotate the latch member about said fulcrum lug for withdrawal of its latch tongue from holding engagement with the hasp member, when said element is manually moved in the opposite direction.

2. A device for releaseably fastening together separable parts of a receptacle or the like comprising a latching structure adapted to be mounted on one of said separable parts and a hasp structure including a pivoted hasp member adapted to be mounted on the other of said separable parts for releaseable engagement with the latching structure, said latching structure comprising a housing, a frame plate supported within said housing, a latch member disposed between the housing and the frame plate, said latch member having an upper leg and a lower leg, said upper leg having a hasp member engaging latch tongue, said frame plate carrying a fulcrum lug, the latch member having a fulcrum notch intermediate its upper and lower legs to engage said fulcrum lug, whereby at times to support said latch member for pivotal movement about said fulcrurn lug, spring means to yieldably urge said latch member to latching position, a manipulatable latch member releasing element slidably supported by and transversely through the housing, said latching element exceeding in length the width of said housing whereby the respective end portions of said element project exteriorly from opposite sides of the housing so as to permit manually effected operative longitudinal movement of said element selectively in one or an opposite direction, said element having respective means to engage both the upper and lower legs of the latch member, whereby to bodily shift said latch member for withdrawal of its latch tongue from holding engagement with said hasp member, when said element is manually moved in one direction, and said element having another means to engage the lower leg of the latch member, whereby to rotate the latch member about said fulcrum lug for withdrawal of its latch tongue from holding engagement with the hasp member, when said element is manually moved in the opposite direction.

3. A fastener device according to claim 2 including a key actuatable lock bolt slidably mounted on the latch member releasing element, the frame plate having means engageable by said lock bolt in the locking position thereof, and a key barrel rotatably mounted in connection with the said housing through which a key can be inserted for actuating engagement with said lock bolt when said releasing element occupies its normal nonactuated position.

4. A device for releaseably fastening together separable parts of a recptacle or the like comprising a latching structure adapted to be mounted on one of said separable parts and a pivoted hasp member adapted to be mounted on the other of said separable parts for releaseable engagement with the latching structure, said latching structure comprising a hollow housing, a iatch member vertically disposed within the housing interior, said latch member having an upper leg and a lower leg, said upper leg having a hasp member engaging latch tongue, a fulcrum lug fixed within the housing interior, the latch member having a fulcrum notch intermediate its upper and lower legs to enage said fulcrum lug, whereby at times to support said latch member for pivotal movement about said fulcrum lug, spring means to yieldably urge the latch member to latching position, a manipulatable transversely disposed latch member releasing element slidably supported by the housing for extension therethrough and selectively movable in one or an opposite direction, said releasing element having respective means to simultaneously engage both the upper and lower legs of the latch member, whereby to bodily shift the latch member for withdrawal of its latch tongue from holding l engagement with the hasp member, when said releasing element is manually moved in one direction, and said releasing element having another means to engage the lower leg of the latch member, whereby to rotate the gageable by the lock bolt in the locking position thereof, and said housing having key admission means through which a key can be inserted for actuating engagement with the lock bolt when the latch member releasing element latch member about said fulcrum lug for Withdrawal of 5 occupies a normal non-actuated position.

its latch tongue from holding engagement with the hasp member, when said releasing element is manually moved in the opposite direction.

5. A fastener device according to claim 4 including a key actuatable lock bolt slidably mounted on the latch member releasing element, the housing having means en- Pomeroy Nov. 23, 1875 Shaif Oct. 4, 1921 

